The Price for Their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved, from Womb to Grave, in the Building of a Nation

esther said is a fantastic book that everyone should read beyond the historian. In a nutshell, this book delves into the economic value, and commodification of enslaved people (unborn, alive, and dead) in the building of our nation, the United States. Daina Berry delves deep into the archive to give birth to this ground breaking project based on primary records to show that enslaved people we. T. C. Brayshaw said The Horrors of Slavery. Daina Berry has written a book that brings the tragedy of slavery to life. While emphasizing the monetary values of slaves at different stages in life, she explains the person story of a variety of people subjected to this evil. It is well researched and well written.. E.D. Schroeder said Professor Berry has provided an important study of both the. Professor Berry has provided an important study of both the way in which slaves were valued at sale and the impact on the slaves of being sold as property. Little information has been available in either area, in part because of the difficulty in finding records and in part because of an apparent aversion by histo

Illuminating "ghost values" or the prices placed on dead enslaved people, Berry explores the little-known domestic cadaver trade and traces the illicit sales of dead bodies to medical schools. The Price for Their Pound of Flesh is the first book to explore the economic value of enslaved people through every phase of their lives - including preconception, infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, the senior years, and death - in the early American domestic slave trade. Covering the full "life cycle", historian Daina Ramey Berry shows the lengths to which enslavers would go to maximize profits and protect their investments. Writing with sensitivity and depth, Berry resurrects the voices of the enslaved and provides a rare window into enslaved peoples' experiences and thoughts, revealing how enslaved people recalled and responded to being appraised, bartered, and sold throughout the course of their lives.